Disappearance
by galaxysets
Summary: Cobb goes for a walk and mysteriously disappears.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: When I refer to "the team" throughout the story; that refers to the general team of Ariadne, Arthur, Eames as well as some other, non-important characters.

Chapter1

It's been 3 days since anybody has last seen Cobb. The last time he left, all he said was that he wanted to take a walk around the area, he didn't want to take his cell phone because he just wanted to take time to enjoy nature and be disconnected from his phone for a few hours. Cobb is always on his phone due to the nature of his work. But, the thing is, he didn't come back that night. His family became slightly concerned when he didn't return, so they decided to give Arthur a call as maybe Cobb went to go discuss something with Arthur. Arthur said he hadn't seen Cobb, but that didn't necessarily mean that something was wrong; Cobb has many associates and could potentially be visiting any one of them. Everyone was obviously concerned but they figured he would return in the morning. The next morning though, Cobb still hadn't returned. Cobb's father checked his phone to see if Cobb sent a text from another phone or had left a voicemail; he hadn't. At this point is when Cobb's family started to fear the worst.

Real concern has developed about Cobb's whereabouts; nobody knows where he is and why he's there. A panicked Arthur decides to call Ariadne in hopes that she might have a clue where he could have gone.

"Ariadne!"

"Arthur, What is it?"

"Cobb has been missing for three days and nobody has seen him, have you?"

"No I have not; I don't know why he'd disappear like this…"

"Nor do I… Do you think he-?"

"He what?" She said

"He ended up like Mal…"

"No way, he's the leader of this team; he always has a grasp on reality"

"We need to meet and figure this out, call Eames; we'll meet in 2 hours at Cobb's house"

Everyone arrives at Cobb's house, the hope is to find a clue to point them in the right direction, but right now, nobody knows where he could be. The group decides to head out and just start asking people whether or not they have seen him. Since nobody knows which way Cobb went, the group doesn't even know if they're even looking in the right area, but they have to do something. After 6 hours of searching and the team is ready to call it a night, they finally get a break. Someone recalls seeing a man being abducted while walking. The man was just casually walking when a van zoomed up; a few masked kidnappers hopped out of the back, grabbed a man off the street and put him in the van. The witness was too far away to know what any of the people in the van or what the man being kidnapped looked like. There's no real way to know that this was Cobb who was abducted, but the team feels confident that it was Cobb. With this new information the team decides to call it a night and act on this information early the next morning.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The next morning the team regrouped at the alleged scene of Cobb's disappearance. They looked around for some clues on his disappearance when Arthur receives a phone call from an unknown caller, he answers it. The caller does not identify himself but claims to have Cobb; he then puts Cobb on the phone to prove it. Arthur asks Cobb some very personal questions just to make sure that it is him. The caller says he has kidnapped Cobb because he knows that Cobb is behind Maurice Fischer breaking up his company, causing him lost millions in the stock market. He demands a ransom of $8 million within 72 hours or Cobb will be killed, he said if anyone is notified about this that Cobb will also be killed. The news that Cobb is indeed alive was welcomed by the team, but if they didn't figure out how to rescue him or negotiate a deal, he may not be alive much longer. Whatever they plan, they must act quickly; nobody knows who these kidnappers are and if they're serious on their threat of killing Cobb. This created a problem though, someone had to leak that Cobb was behind Fischer breaking up his father's company. Arthur began to gain suspicion that Mr. Saito could be behind this, but didn't say anything as right now the objective is to find Cobb. The team began looking into major investors in Fischer's company to possibly find a suspect but they don't find anything at first, all major investors are large corporations, not an individual person. But when they look into who runs these companies, they find a company named Real World Energy LLC, and the CEO Jonathan Chen. Mr. Chen is a Chinese-American businessman, shortly after Fischer's break-up his company filed for bankruptcy. This doesn't necessarily mean that Mr. Chen is behind Cobb's kidnapping but the team feels like they're finally onto something. Time is ticking though and now the team needs to figure out how the kidnapper found out about Cobb being behind Fisher's breakup.

"How on earth did this lunatic find that Cobb was behind Fischer's breakup?" Eames remarked

"Someone must have sold him out…" Arthur responded

"Who would've sold him out? Do we have a traitor on the team?" Eames said

"No… At least I don't think so… I think Saito is the one who sold him out. That man will do anything to just make a profit."

"But what interest would Saito have in selling out Cobb?"

"Maybe Mr. Chen paid a large amount to find out who was behind this… Maybe Saito knew that Mr. Chen was disgruntled and told him that he would tell him who was behind this for the right price." Ariadne said

"We should worry about Saito later and focus on getting Cobb back, time is ticking and we need to find out how to get him before it's too late." Arthur responded

The team now has two problems; where is Cobb and how do they deal with Saito? The obvious problem is no one knows where Cobb is; he could be theoretically anywhere. Although he could be anywhere, he probably isn't very far. He likely isn't overseas in China or in any other country. It's been 24 hours since they have last heard from Mr. Chen or Cobb, when finally Mr. Chen calls again; Arthur decides to answer the call.

"It's been 24 Hours, what's the status on the money?"

"Don't worry about it, we're working on it, you'll get your money, is Cobb OK?"

"Cobb is fine and Cobb will be fine as long as I get my money, I have no interest in harming Cobb right now. If I harm him, I don't get my money; it's as simple as that… I'll call back in another 24 Hours to check on that status of your money." *Call Ends*

"During the call, I heard a loud noise; it sounded like a freight barge or some other large ship. Does anyone know of a river around here?"

"There's the Jones River which isn't very far…" Eames responded

"How loud was the sound? Was it loud and very noticeable or was it quiet and off in the distance?" Asked Ariadne

"Well… It wasn't deafening loud, but it was definitely noticeable, it wasn't faint. Although this helps narrow the section somewhat, there are still thousands of places within hearing distance of the Jones River…" Answered Arthur

Time is running out and the team is not much closer to finding Cobb.

The team decides to head out to the Jones River to hopefully catch a break and run into Mr. Chen or find some clue that might point them in the right direction. It is a big search zone but people get lucky all the time, and maybe the team will get lucky in their search for Cobb. In order to cover more ground, the team splits up. Arthur gets a call from a blocked number, at first he does not want to answer, but decides to answer.

"Who is this?" Asked Arthur

"Do not worry about who I am, You're looking for your friend Cobb, are you not?"

"Yeeeeaaahhhh…"

"I know where he is" said the caller

"How do you know where he is?" asked Arthur

"I told you do not worry about me, now do you want to know or not?"

"Yes of course I want to know."

"He's at 373 W Gregory St."

"How can I trust that this is accurate?" Asked Arthur

"You just have to trust me." *Call Ends*

373 W Gregory St. isn't far from where Arthur or any of the team is. Immediately Arthur gives the rest a call to inform them of this news. He asks Eames to walk around that house to see if in fact Mr. Chen is there. Mr. Chen does not know who Eames is so that's why he is going. After about an hour of walking around, Eames spots Mr. Chen as he comes out of that house. Perhaps it's a coincidence, or maybe Mr. Chen was just visiting that house. So, Eames continues to walk around, after about another hour, Mr. Chen finally returns and uses his keys to open the door to the house; there is no mistake, that's his house. Eames calls Arthur and the rest of the team to let them know he can confirm what the caller told Arthur. Now it's time to regroup and find a way to free Cobb.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

So now that the team knows where Cobb is, or at least where Mr. Chen is, the tricky part is actually getting Cobb out of there. The house is in the middle of a neighborhood filled with houses all around so they have to be inconspicuous. Also nobody knows where Cobb is exactly within the house, the house is also rather large which makes it difficult to find him. He could be in any of the rooms, the only way to know which one he's in is to go in and search room by room. In order to do this they would need to lure Mr. Chen out of the house and keep him out. After much debate, Eames comes up with a brilliant solution.

"I've got a plan." Said Eames

"What is your plan?" Asked Arthur

"I call Mr. Chen posing as an executive for another company saying that I'd like to setup an informal meeting about a possible job within my company. That gets him out of the house and the rest of you go in and get Cobb while I distract Mr. Chen."

"Does anyone object to this plan?" Asked Arthur

"I'll take silence as a no then." Eames said

Eames will pose as Brendan Beck from Sterling Biotechnologies. Mr. Beck is Sterling's Chief Recruiter, and will be discussing with Mr. Chen about an opening for their Chief Operating Officer. Once Mr. Chen is with Eames, Eames will send a text to the team to move in and find Cobb. The team will be armed in case they run into trouble at Mr. Chen's house.

"Hello, is this Mr. Chen?" Asked Eames

"Yes, who is this and how did you get this number?"

"My name is Brendan Beck and I am from Sterling Biotechnologies. An ex-colleague of yours gave me this number and told me you might be interested in our Chief Operating Officer opening."

"Oh… Yes of course I'm interested." Answered Mr. Chen

"Great to hear! Listen, would you like to meet for coffee tomorrow? This would just be an informal meeting, this isn't an interview. It's just me getting to know you a little bit more."

"Tomorrow at 10:00 am works for me, if that does for you."

"Tomorrow at 10:00 am works just fine, I will see you then, OK?" Said Eames

"See you then." Responded Mr. Chen

The next morning the team is ready to go out and so is Eames. Eames heads to the local coffee shop for his meeting with Mr. Chen while the rest wait near Mr. Chen's house. Today is the day that they rescue Cobb. Mr. Chen has arrived at the coffee shop so Eames sends the go-ahead text message. Immediately Arthur gets to work to pick the lock to the house. After a few short minutes, Arthur has successfully picked the lock and broken in the house. That's just the beginning though, Mr. Chen has a fairly large house and it will take a little while for them to search every room. Arthur decides to search the basement for Cobb. He has searched every room though and Cobb is not there. Ariadne is searching the upstairs and on the fourth room, she finds Cobb.

"Ariadne! What are you doing here?!" Asked Cob

"I'm here to rescue you, we need to get out of here, I'll explain everything later. Are you alright?" Asked Ariadne

"Don't worry about me, I'm fine. Where is everybody else?"

"They're downstairs, now let's get out of here."

Arthur calls Eames to tell him that he has Cobb and to wrap it up with Mr. Chen. Cobb escapes Mr. Chen's house and returns to the safety of Arthur's home. Eames arrives a short time later, Mr. Chen is clueless of what just happened. Cobb has already figured out that Saito is the one who sold him out. Cobb is out for blood, he wants revenge, so he calls Mr. Saito

"Mr. Saito, it's Dominic Cobb, how are you?"

"I'm doing fine, how are you?"

"Not too bad myself… Listen, I'd like to meet with you about some important business. Do you think we could meet at my warehouse sometime soon?"

"We can meet tomorrow if you'd like." Saito responded

"That sound great, I'll see you then."

The next day, Saito arrives at Cobb's warehouse.

"Mr. Cobb, it is great to see you." Said Saito

"Mr. Saito, I know you were the one who sold me out to Mr. Chen. I was kidnapped for 3 days. In my country we have a phrase we like to use and it goes like this… "Snitches get stitches"".

 **END**


End file.
